The Chimei Museum (奇美博物館) is our favorite museum in Taiwan. It's a white, palace-like building in a park south of the city, filled with Western paintings and sculpture, one of the great violin collections, arms and armor, and halls of animals and fossils. Give it half a day, not a rushed hour.
It's out in Rende, near the high speed rail station and a long way from the old town. Don't base your stay near it: take a taxi or bus out on the day you go. Hours, prices and transport below come from the museum's official site.
What's inside
The museum was founded by Shi Wen-long (許文龍, 1928 to 2023), the founder of the CHIMEI Group, who said his museum exists for the public. It opened in 1992 inside the company's offices and moved to its present home in 2015. All of it comes from private collecting, and about 4,000 objects are on show at any time, roughly a third of the collection.
- Western art: paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, a Rodin gallery, and sculpture from ancient Greece and Rome to the 20th century.
- Musical instruments: galleries on how instruments are made, mechanical instruments that play themselves, and a violin room. Taiwan's Tourism Administration calls the violin collection perhaps the best in the world for quality and quantity, and the Chi Mei Cultural Foundation lends its violins to young musicians.
- Arms and armor: weapons from around the world and the battles they shaped.
- Natural history and fossils: animals and fossils from five continents.
Special exhibitions are ticketed separately and are consistently excellent. Until 10 January 2027 the headline show is Pharaoh: King of Egypt, made with the British Museum: 280 pieces, the largest exhibition of pharaonic objects ever shown in Taiwan.
The building and grounds
The museum sits in the Tainan Metropolitan Park (臺南都會公園). In front is a marble copy of the Apollo fountain at Versailles, the sun god rising from the sea in a four-horse chariot, and a bridge lined with statues of twelve Greek gods leads to the doors. The outdoor park is free and open longer than the museum.
The grounds are immaculate, with a wide lawn and picnic tables, plus a 7-Eleven and a Starbucks on site. Inside there are two cafés and a gift shop on the second floor. On a nice day, bring lunch and a blanket, enjoy the outside for a couple of hours, then head in.
Hours, tickets and closed days
- Hours: museum 09:30 to 17:30, last entry 17:00 (16:30 for the special exhibition). Outdoor park 09:00 to 18:30
- Closed: Wednesdays, Lunar New Year's Eve, and some announced days. Check the museum's calendar before you go
- Entry (permanent galleries): NT$200; NT$150 for ages 7 to 22 and 65 and over, with photo ID; free for children under 7, Tainan residents and students, and visitors with a disability card plus one companion
- Special exhibition: Pharaoh: King of Egypt NT$580, concession NT$480
- Address: No. 66, Section 2, Wenhua Road, Rende District (臺南市仁德區文華路二段66號)
The ticket desk sells from 09:15 to 16:30, and tickets are for the date printed on them. The museum suggests arriving 30 minutes early for the special exhibition. We buy ours on Klook: it takes overseas cards, the QR code works right away, and it can save you a queue at the desk. → Tours and tickets
Getting there
From the high speed rail station: the H31 bus runs from Tainan HSR Station to the museum in about 15 minutes, and it's free for HSR passengers (keep your HSR ticket to show). You can also take the Shalun Line train to Bao'an Station (保安車站) and walk about 15 minutes. That makes Chimei an easy stop on the day you arrive or leave.
From the old town: take a local train from Tainan Station to Bao'an Station and walk about 15 minutes, or ride bus Red 3 or Red 4 to the Bao'an transfer station. City bus 25 also stops nearby. A taxi is the simplest option. For the trip home, the museum's taxi stand is at the park's Provincial Highway 1 entrance, or call one from the P4 car park.
Nearby: the Ten Drum Cultural Village in an old sugar factory makes a good pair. → All Tainan museums
How long to spend
Plan on half a day. The permanent galleries alone fill two or three hours, a special exhibition adds more, and the grounds deserve time of their own. It also makes a fine escape on a rainy or very hot day. → 3 days in Tainan
Sources
Hours, prices and transport from the Chimei Museum visitor information and its English site. Collection details from the Taiwan Tourism Administration, and the fountain, statues and violin loans from the Taipei Times (2015, 2021). Checked October 2026.